New Ulm weekly review., 1887-06-22
The TALE OF A PITCHER.
The Mysterious Circumstantial Evidence
Of Household Sensation.
BY ELIZABETH PH1PPs TRAIN.

silver pitcher!''
(which pitcher, Jule?'
.'Ths one for the cream, madame.
! [ do not remember seeing it since
madame's coffee was served last even
ing. Perhaps madame has sent il
somewhere?'
1 No. | know nothing of it. Search,
search, Julie, it must have gotten out
of sight
"Alas! madame, have looked in
vain; it is nowhere to be foundE'
Aud such proved, indeed, to be the
case. We looked and hunted every
where. not nook or corner, probable
or improbable, did we leave unsearched
in our endeavor to discover the missing
article. And, at last, I was obliged
sorrowfully to abandon all hope of ever
again seeing my little cream-ewer.
Now, from those who have not for
inherited possession a real love and
pride | cannot expect sympathy in my
misfortune, but perhaps knowledge
of the intrinsic value Of the heirloom
may awake an interest which would,
for the merely sentimental character
of my loss, be missing. The pitcher
was thoroughly unique little affair of
the purest silver, most curiously shaped
and exquisitely wrought Its design
was that of a dragon, the tail forming o
the handle and the hideous mouth, in
the appraised head, stretched to q
frightful width to permit the escape of
the sweet, yellow fluid for which it
was purposed. The wicked, baleful
ire Of the cleaning eyes was due to
two large emeralds of considerable
value and of such lustre that they
really seemed to impart diabolic life
to the monster.
My great-grandfather an English
man, had long filed diplomatic post
at st. Peterburg, and had brought home
from the Russian capital MANY
valuable and interesting souvenirs, gifts
from the warm friends his long resi-
dence there had drawn about him. This
little pitcher had been presented to
him by a beautiful woman of high
rank, or archduchess, the story ran,
who had become greatly attached to
the handsome English ambassador, and
who had herself received it as a we'd
ding gift. On one of the creatures
TANKS was engraved a tiny crest that
OF small dragon surmounted by cor
,onet and underneath were two tiny let
tiers, q. ", while on the other the fair
donor had caused to be inscribed the
coat farms of my ancestor The
ntlquary can well understand my grief
at the loss Of SO curious and ancient a
possession, while he who prizes objects
merely for their marketable value, may
appreciate my sorrow at the theft
rof my valuable emeralds.
l am not rich, and live in small but
coy little flat in New York, with one
servant to attend to my wants and ad-
minister my household economy. I
have met with what people call reverses,
and am obliged to practice, not very
stringent, but moderate economy. [
have my vanities, one Of which is that
sall my surroundings shall be such as
become lady, and that my ordinary
service and appointments shall be of as
dainty and elegant a nature as I can
afford. Having many relics of former
wealth, am able to make my menage
quite in accordance with my desires,
and though my apartments lack con-
siderably in dimensions yet their small
proportions contain articles of vertu
which would notshame more palatial
i abode Iloye to eat from fine china
and sip my tea from fragile, dainty cups,
and evidently am not alone in my
fancy, for rarely do I take my after
dinner coffee alone, and about my pret-
ty little Chippendale table are often
gathered men and women whose names
represent much Of the wit and talent
of New York.
Even on that very evening when pour
/ ed for the last time the IVORY stream
from my dragon s ugly mouth, I had
entertained a really brilliant little CO.
ferie. There had come to me NV old
4 and dear friend, Henry Farms worth,
who for many years had been one of
New York S most. brilliant art critics.,
and whose fam liarity with the mu-
sical and artistic circles of the metrop-
oils rendered him an authority on all
gossip connected Herewith. With
him had come his nephew. a man who
directed the publication Of one of our
most prominent journals. Coffee had
just been brought in when Mary Van
WORT, who had been school friend OF
mine, and who was now mistress Of a
gorgeous establish shlnent, appeared, also
bringing 4 friend, a charming woman
of perhaps 80 years, whose rare beauty
compelled our instant admiration. She
4 was i. foreigner, a Swedc, think, and
ssas visiting Mrs. Van Wort, to whom
she had brought letters of introduction
from, Or minister to Sweden, who was
Z brother-in-laW to her hostess.
s i never saw = moro charming; nat-
I oral manner nor 2 person more devoid